Heat dissipation device

ABSTRACT

A heat dissipation device includes a heat sink with a plurality of fins, a fan mounted on a side of the heat sink with a space formed between the heat sink and the fan, and at least one airflow guiding board formed by one end of at least one of the fins. The airflow guiding board extends through the space to connect with the fan. The airflow guiding board can guide the airflow generated by the fan to the heat sink, so as to reduce the loss of the airflow from the edge of the heat sink, and enhance the effect of heat dissipation. Alternatively, the airflow guide board can also function to guide the airflow to cool other heat sinks.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a heat dissipation device, and more particularly to a heat dissipation device for electronic elements; the heat dissipation device has a heat sink with a plurality of fins wherein some of the fins are extended to reach an electrical fan to guide an airflow generated by the fan.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

With the development of large scale integration technology and the information industry, personal computers are becoming more and more popular. As we know, the central processing unit (CPU) is the core unit of the computer system, and anything that effects it also affects the integrity and performance of the computer. With the increasing demand for processing power in computers, the CPUs must now operate at higher speeds and thus generate larger amounts of heat. The heat must be quickly and efficiently removed from CPU; otherwise, the temperature of the CPU will increase above optimal operating temperature, thus affecting the performance and reliability of the computer. Indeed, enhanced functionality and complexity of the newer microprocessors requires an increase in heat dissipation.

Conventionally, a heat sink is mounted onto a CPU, and a fan is assembled to the heat sink. The fan generates forced airflow to the heat sink for enhancing heat dissipation thereof. However, when the airflow passes through the heat sink, a part of it escapes from the edge of the heat sink, which results in its heat dissipation efficiency being reduced. In order to promote the heat dissipation effect of heat sink, an additional airflow guiding duct has been used between the fan and the heat sink for guiding the airflow into the heat sink and preventing the airflow from escaping out of the heat sink. However, this approach has not been proved especially effective. Specifically, the additional airflow guiding duct complicates the structure and assembly process of a heat dissipation device and therefore increases the cost. Furthermore, gaps inevitably exist between the additional airflow guiding duct and the heat sink, where parts of the airflow can escape.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat dissipation device with a simple structure, which can decrease the loss of airflow and promote heat dissipation.

The heat dissipation device comprises a heat sink with a plurality of heat fins, a fan mounted on a side of the heat sink with a space formed between the heat sink and the fan, and at least one airflow guiding board, which is formed by extending the end of the fin at the outmost side of the heat sink to the fan. The at least one airflow guiding board can guide the airflow generated by the fan to the heat sink. The present invention can decrease the loss of airflow compared to those commonly in use today. Meanwhile, the airflow guiding board presents a much larger area for heat dissipation, and its structure is so simple that it can be easily and inexpensively implemented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects will be better understood from the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an assembled isometric view of a heat dissipation device in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of FIG. 1, viewed from another aspect.

FIG. 3 is an assembled isometric view of a heat dissipation device in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an abridged general view of the second embodiment and related components.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a heat sink of a heat dissipation device in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an abridged general view of the third embodiment and related components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a heat dissipation device in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention includes a heat sink 10, a fan 30 disposed at one side of the heat sink 10 with a space formed between the heat sink 10 and the fan 30, and two airflow guiding boards 50, 60 extending through the space to connect with the fan 30.

The heat sink 10 comprises a base 12 for contacting with a heat source (not shown) such as a central processing unit (CPU) and a plurality of fins 14 arranged on the base 12. The fins 14 vertically extend upwardly from the base 12. The fins 14 are made of heat conductive material. The fins 14 are spaced apart from each other with a same distance. A channel 16 is therefore formed between each two adjacent fins 14. In order to transfer the heat absorbed from the heat source by the heat sink 10 sufficiently, the fan 30 is disposed on a rear side of the heat sink 10. A width of the heat sink 10 is less than that of the fan 30, resulting in the flange of the fan 30 protruding at the outside of the heat sink 10.

Two fins 14 a, 14 b are defined on two opposite outmost lateral sides of the heat sink 10 and extend through the space to reach the fan 30 to respectively form the airflow guiding boards 50, 60. Preferably, the heat sink 10 is mounted on a motherboard (shown in FIG. 4) of a computer system and the fan 30 is secured on a mainframe of the computer system by screws (not shown). Of course the airflow guiding boards 50, 60 can also be engaged with the fan 30 by means of adhesive, bolts or screws to combine the airflow guiding boards 50, 60 and the fan 30 together.

The airflow guiding boards 50, 60 each comprise an inclined section 52, 62 and a paralleled section 54, 64. The inclined sections 52, 62 extend outward from the two outmost fins 14 a, 14 b of the heat sink 10 in directions at an angle to the outmost fins 14 a, 14 b. The paralleled sections 54, 64 extend from distal rear ends of the inclined sections 52, 62 in directions parallel to the fins 14.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, the forced airflow generated by the fan 30 is guided by the airflow guiding boards 50, 60 to flow through the channels 16 of the heat sink 10. The airflow guiding boards 50, 60 located at the two opposite outmost sides of the heat sink 10 are capable of preventing the airflow escaping from the edge of the heat sink 10 and therefore promote the cooling efficiency of the heat sink 10. Furthermore, the airflow guiding boards 50, 60, which are made of heat conductive material increase heat dissipation area of heat sink 10, thereby enhancing heat dissipation efficiency of the heat sink 10.

A heat dissipation device in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. The heat dissipation device comprises a heat sink 10, a fan 30 disposed at one side of the heat sink 10 with a space formed between the heat sink 10 and the fan 30, and an airflow guiding board 350 extending through the space to connect with the fan 30. As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of electronic components is mounted on the motherboard in a computer system. There is only an airflow guiding board 350 at one outmost side of the heat sink 10 compared to the first embodiment having two airflow guiding boards 50, 60 at opposite two outmost sides of the heat sink 10. The structure of the airflow guiding board 350 is the same as the airflow guiding board 50 in the first embodiment of the invention. The forced airflow generated by the fan 30 partly flows through the heat sink 10 guided by the airflow guiding board 350, while another part flows over other components located near the lateral side of heat sink 10 opposite the airflow guiding board 350. In this design, the airflow generated by the fan 30 can dissipate the heat sink 10 for CPU as well as other more components such as a heat sink 70 for North Bridge chipset.

A heat dissipation device in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. The heat dissipation device comprises a heat sink 10, a fan 30 disposed at one side of the heat sink 10 with a space formed between the heat sink 10 and the fan 30 and airflow guiding boards 550, 560, 570 extending through the space to connect with the fan 30. The airflow guiding boards 550, 560 are formed at opposite two outmost sides of the heat sink 10, while the airflow guiding board 570 is formed by extending a fin 14 c inside the heat sink 10 to the fan 30. The fin 14 c can be any one of the fins between the two outmost fins 14 a, 14 b. In this embodiment, the airflow guiding board 570 deviates the middle of the heat sink 10, dividing the space into two parts different in size, of which the relatively large one corresponds to other heat generating components such as a heat sink 90 for a voltage regulator. The heat sink 90 is mounted in front of the heat sink 10. The airflow flowing through the relatively large space can flow on to the heat sink 90. Understandably, the position of the airflow guiding board 570 is adjustable according to the layout of the heat generating components in front of the heat sink 10. The airflow guiding board 570 can be actually defined as two or more if needed.

In above embodiments, the width of the heat sink 10 is less than that of the fan 30. Accordingly, the airflow guiding boards 50, 60, 550, 560 each extend outward from the heat sink 10. Thus, a shrunk airflow duct is formed between the heat sink 10 and the fan 30, which can increase the velocity of the airflow, thereby enhancing heat transferring efficiency of the heat sink 10. Furthermore, the airflow guiding boards can optionally be an inward bended structure when the width of the fan 30 is less than that of the heat sink 10, or a straight structure when the width of the fan 30 and the heat sink 10 are approximate.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

1. A heat dissipation device, comprising: a heat sink having a plurality of fins; a fan located at one side of the heat sink with a space formed between the heat sink and the fan; and at least one airflow guiding board for guiding airflow generated by the fan to the heat sink, the at least one airflow guiding board being integrally formed with an end of at least one of said fins and extending through the space to connect with the fan.
 2. The heat dissipation device of claim 1, wherein two of said fins located at two opposite outmost lateral sides of the heat sink extend through the space to the fan thereby forming two airflow guiding boards.
 3. The heat dissipation device of claim 2, wherein said two airflow guiding boards are inclined outward to the fan such that a width of the space between the airflow guiding boards near the heat sink is less than that near the fan.
 4. The heat dissipation device of claim 3, wherein each of said two airflow guiding boards comprises an inclined section extending from an end of one of the two of the fins and a paralleled section connected to the fan.
 5. The heat dissipation device of claim 2, wherein one of the fins between the opposite two outmost sides of the heat sink extends towards the fan to form an additional airflow guiding board for dividing the space into two parts.
 6. The heat dissipation device of claim 5, wherein the two parts have different sizes.
 7. The heat dissipation device of claim 1, wherein the heat sink comprises a base where said fins are disposed.
 8. A heat dissipation device comprising a heat sink, the heat sink having a base, a plurality of fins vertically extending upwardly from the base and forming channels therebetween and an airflow guiding structure at one side of the heat sink for guiding airflow through the channels, wherein the fins are made of heat conductive material and the airflow guiding structure is integrally formed with at least one of the fins by extending a length of the least one of the fins so that the at least one of the fins has a length longer than others of fins.
 9. The heat dissipation device of claim 8, further comprising a fan located at said side of the heat sink with a space formed between the heat sink and the fan.
 10. The heat dissipation device of claim 8, wherein said airflow guiding structure comprises at least one airflow guiding board formed by extending one end of one of said fins at an outmost side of the heat sink to reach the fan.
 11. The heat dissipation device of claim 8, wherein said airflow guiding structure comprises a pair of airflow guiding boards formed by extending ends of two of the fins at opposite two outmost sides of the heat sink to connect with the fan.
 12. The heat dissipation device of claim 11, wherein at least one of the fins between the opposite two outmost sides of the heat sink extends to the fan to form an additional airflow guiding board, the additional airflow guiding board deviating from a middle of the heat sink.
 13. The heat dissipation device of claim 10, wherein the at least one airflow guiding board comprises an inclined section integrally extending from the one end of one of the fins and a paralleled section connected with the fan.
 14. A heat dissipation assembly comprising: a printed circuit board; a first heat sink mounted on the printed circuit board and comprising: a base; a plurality of fins on the base; a fan mounted in rear of the first heat sink for generating an airflow through the first heat sink and distanced from the first heat sink a space; wherein the first heat sink further comprises at least an airflow guide board extending integrally from a rear end of one of the fins through the space to be adjacent to the fan.
 15. The heat dissipation assembly of claim 14 further comprising a second heat sink located near one of two lateral opposites sides of the first heat sink, wherein the at least an airflow guide board is located at the other one of the two lateral opposite sides of the first heat sink, whereby a part of the airflow generated by the fan flows toward the second heat sink.
 16. The heat dissipation assembly of claim 14, wherein there are two airflow guide boards extending rearwards from two of the fins at two opposite lateral sides of the fins, respectively, through the space to be adjacent to the fan.
 17. The heat dissipation assembly of claim 16, wherein the two airflow guide boards diverge from the heat sink toward the fan.
 18. The heat dissipation assembly of claim 17 further comprising an additional airflow guide board between the two airflow guide boards thereby dividing the space into two parts with different sizes.
 19. The heat dissipation assembly of claim 18, further comprising an additional heat sink located in front of the first heat sink and aligned substantially with a part of the space with a larger size.
 20. The heat dissipation assembly of claim 15, further comprising a third heat sink located in front of the first heat sink and aligned substantially with one of the parts of the space. 